South Korea to tackle Bitcoin frenzy with strict new rules on cryptocurrency trading

South Korea is preparing to introduce a series of new rules on cryptocurrencies as it looks to prevent speculative investment amid fears that Bitcoin could be a bubble. It also wants to curb the practice of digital currencies being used in crimes.

Following an emergency meeting by ministry officials, the government is preparing a bill that will ban minors and foreigners from trading in cryptocurrencies or opening investment accounts for them within South Korea.

Furthermore, officials are proposing a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions unless they take place through exchanges that meet certain conditions: customers’ funds are to be kept separately, exchanges must explain investment risks, users’ real names have to be confirmed, anti-money laundering and asset protection systems need to be in place, and transaction details must be disclosed to the public.

Financial institutions such as banks will be prohibited from holding, purchasing, and investing in digital currencies. And the government is to form a tax force that will decide whether profits made on cryptocurrencies should be taxed.

The measures must be submitted to the National Assembly so they can be implemented.

There had been talk of a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in the country, but the government said it did not want to stifle innovation in fintech.

Seoul-based Bithumb, the world’s busiest virtual currency exchange, has said it would comply with the rules. Its trading volume reached 56 trillion won ($51 billion) last month, up from 305 billion won at the start of the year.

*sigh* I'm all for governments keeping things under control but this is a good example of overstepping bounds. The government can't step in and tell me to buy an Apple phone instead of an android in the same way it shouldn't be allowed to step in and tell me I can't buy bitcoins. Did I or did I not earn my own money? Do I or do I not have the freedom to buy whatever I want with it? It's not drugs or anything that can hurt me or somebody else. It's literally digital data.

Crypto currency, as it stands, is a haven or fraudsters, gangsters, extortion (inc. ransomeware), and other crime related payments. The control is unlikely to tell you what you can do with your money, just that it should be traceable, and profits taxable.

“Bitcoin was supposed to demonstrate the power of a true free market,” the developer Adam Chalmers tweeted on Wednesday afternoon, when the average price of Bitcoin was around $13,000. “Instead it's full of scams, rent-seekers, theft, useless for real purchases and accelerates climate change. Mission accomplished.”

Crypto currency, as it stands, is a haven or fraudsters, gangsters, extortion (inc. ransomeware), and other crime related payments. The control is unlikely to tell you what you can do with your money, just that it should be traceable, and profits taxable.

Click to expand...

Most of the ransomware is actually made under the government protection. You don't think they would already find the authors of the "FBI" trojan and other elusive hacker groups, if they weren't working for the government?

NSA can easily find Russian hackers in the middle of nowhere, when they want, but they can't find a big and rich group of hackers that are extorting money from the citizens for years, using the same app? Yeah, I really believe that.

This is the way government agencies pay to the hacker groups which work for them. "You hack Sony for us, you hack Airbus for us, you hack Chinese servers for us, and in exchange you can extort money from the ordinary people. We'll pretend we're chasing you, but we can't catch you".

That's how it works. Because when they really want to catch someone, they find them in the middle of Indonesia, hidden in a swamp with a breathing tube. As was proven many times before.

to lazy to look up any links, but how's 5 seconds of work which turned up Newsweek for you.
"The amount of power necessary to support bitcoin has increased significantly in recent months, as its price has surged to record levels."
"Analysis of how much energy it currently requires to mine bitcoin suggest that it is greater than the current energy consumption of 159 individual countries, including Ireland, Nigeria and Uruguay. The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index by cryptocurrency platform Digiconomist puts the usage on a par with Denmark, consuming 33 terawatts of electricity annually.
edit: in a article written 2 days ago, Bitcoin is 61st user of electricity globally and moving up. In fact if current trends are projected, by 2022 all the worlds energy will go to mining bitcoin.
edit: try this one " recent research from Dutch Bank ING found out that one bitcoin transaction consumes sufficient electricity to power an average household for a whole month."

so let's add one more. Bitcoin was to be independent of the banking industry, provide anonymity, be an electronic cash system. It's failing/failed on all 3. Middlemen (Bitcoin exchanges, real names have to be confirmed, so volatile it cannot be used for cash) It has just become another tool of the big banks to deal in and make more money for themselves. Just the other day I saw an ad for a company selling Bitcoin futures (!!). Ironically, the only place it worked as intended was on the "Silk Road" deep, dark web and all that.